Adventures in guitar land.

It’s got a bit busy here & there are some exciting times ahead.

Long time no blog. Truth be told, I forgot the password and when I tracked it down, life kept happening and then I forgot to blog.

Now where to start. I have been practicing hard and have got a couple of new bits of Cliffs of Dover under my fingers. Currently wondering why I suggested this to Leigh in the first place as my fingers hurt like nothing on earth as I’m learning the hybrid picking bit after the intro. Obviously I haven’t gone near the intro yet as my fingers just don’t play that fast, they need to be fitter and I wonder if I should take them jogging or something. That little hybrid picking bit, I am practicing in 5 minute bursts as I really don’t want to blister my fingers and I can just see that happening.

Anyway, Cliffs of Dover is coming along. Eric Johnson would be turning in his grave if he were dead as it sounds fairly frightful from where I’m sitting but it’s fun to learn and it gives me a challenge. I need a lot more Eric in my music collection and will get around to buying more when work picks up and finances allow.

I have a fair bit of Steve Vai in my collection and Leigh thought that it would be fun for me to learn a little bit of The Audience is Listening, from the Passion & Warfare album.. I’m not sure who he thought it would be fun for but he thought it would be a laugh. I swear the man just likes teaching me so he gets a good belly laugh at least once a week. Even though I practiced it every day, for a week, and listened to the original, as well as looking and listening via Guitar Pro 6, it made no musical sense to me. By the end of the second week it did and now I can play it and it’s getting a bit quicker. I’m still a good 40mph behind the speed that Vai play it but he’s been playing 40+ years and I’ve been playing 16 months. I expect that I can ride a horse a lot better than Steve Vai can, after all, I’ve been riding since before I can remember. Before he suggested the Vai track he did suggest some Jason Becker and then giggled. I’m never too sure when he’s joking or not and the giggle could mean either way.

There has been a new arrival in our house. As you can see, we have added a little Concert sized Ukulele to the family. I have been looking on Justin Sandercoe’s Website plus I have a ‘learn to play the Uke’ book with DVDs, CDs and a bonus CD/DVD for when I’ve got through everything else. I have been having great fun.

As I have been speaking to schools about guitar classes, they have asked about ukulele classes, which we do offer, so I thought that now I’ve kind of got the hang of a guitar, I might have a go at the Ukulele. I watched some of the Justin videos and though that it looked a hoot so Kenn, my husband, went out and bought me a Uke in the sales. I’m getting asked about Ukulele a lot at the moment so I thought that learning would be a plan so I can answer questions with more knowledge than if I couldn’t play a Uke. That’s my excuse for a new toy anyway.

On the Norwich Guitar Academy side of things, it’s all getting rather exciting. Leigh has secured Guthrie Govan to come and do a Masterclass for us in Autumn this year. We will have more news on that soon, regarding venue, ticket prices and the exact date. We are hoping to roll out our group lessons very soon and our Tea & Jam sessions, whereby our students can come for a jam session and have a cup of tea or coffee, maybe a biscuit or three while they are at it. A nice social, fun get together once a month across the ability levels.

Anyone interested in the Guthrie Govan Masterclass can register their interest here and you will be emailed with all news pertaining to the event. Previous Masterclass events have featured Phil Hilborne (We Will Rock You) and Andy James (LickLibrary) and have been very successful. I think that this one is going to be a doozy though and we are all super excited about it.

Anyway, enough chit-chat. I need to go and have another 5 minutes work on that hybrid picking and then maybe a quick canter around Billy Idol’s White Wedding. My goal this week, is to be able to play for 5 minutes without causing Leigh too much hilarity. I know that Cliffs of Dover is biting off more than I can chew but I do like a challenge.